Environment

Ecosystems

Scientists Say: Deforestation

Trees slurp up carbon dioxide and help keep our planet cool. But deforestation cuts those trees down in large numbers.

Environment

Australian wildfires pumped smoke to record heights

Wildfires in Australia in late December and early January spurred an unusual smoke plume that still hasn’t fully dispersed.

Environment

Let’s learn about hurricanes

Hurricanes are huge, terrifying storms that form over warm ocean waters — and waters are getting warming.

Ecosystems

Scientists Say: Prairie

Prairies are flat, fertile grasslands in North America. They are their own unique ecosystem.

Environment

Let’s learn about rain

People need rain for their crops and their drinking fountains. But there sometimes can be too much of a good thing.

Environment

Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought

Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.

Science & Society

CO₂ emissions have nosedived as COVID-19 keeps people home

The COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel that can pollute the air. By April, travel-related daily emissions of greenhouse gases was back to 2006 levels.

Environment

Pesticides can have long-term impact on bumblebee learning

Pesticide-laced nectar and pollen can permanently harm the brains of baby bumblebees.

Materials Science

This ‘living’ concrete slurps up a greenhouse gas

Microbes help harden a mix of sand and gelatin into a living concrete that could interact with people and the environment in great new ways.

Physics

Explainer: Rainbows, fogbows and their eerie cousins

Light shining through a water droplet can make more than just a rainbow. A range of other colorful arcs also can develop.

Health & Medicine

How to find the next pandemic virus before it finds us

Wild animals carry viruses that can sicken people. Monitoring those viral hosts that pose the greatest risk might help prevent a new pandemic.

Climate

How to curb the climate heating by contrails

Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.